Sunday, 4 December 2011

A to Z of African official IP websites no.25: Kenya

Afro-IP's dedicated web-explorer Kingsley Egbuonu has visited some desperately depressing jurisdictions in his time, as he searches for websites and online services offered by intellectual property offices in our favourite continent. But this week, in the 25th in the series, Kingsley finds something to cheer about. There is definite evidence of official life online in Kenya. Kingsley explains:

Overview

Kenya is a Contracting Party to several treaties on intellectual property which include the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. It is also a member of ARIPO.

Copyright Office

• The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) is the competent office responsible for copyright and related rights in Kenya.

You can follow Kenya’s copyright office on twitter @KenyaCopyright and on Facebook with the username Kenya Copyright Board. The industrial property office is not on Facebook or Twitter, but the interactive facility (for comments) on its website is better than nothing.

Latest intellectual property update/law

The Copyright (Amendment) Regulations (2011) amending the Copyright Regulations (2004). Also the Competition Act No. 12 of 2010 which came into force on 1 August 2011 makes provisions concerning the protection of intellectual property rights.

Conclusion

Both IP offices in Kenya are currently doing a fantastic job in terms of accessibility. Their websites are well updated and loaded with useful information and documents any IP devotee would love to see.